"A singer … is no more than an actor set to music."

"I learned more from Chuck Berry about America than I could have from the U.S. Information Service in London."

"I call my music the healing music… It makes the blind feel that they can see, the lame feel that they can walk, the d…"

"It just happened. I like to sing, and well, I just started singing and folks just started listening. I can't tell fol…"

"Rock and roll is a music, and why should a music contribute to … juvenile delinquency? If people are going to be juve…"

"American country music … was and is … the soul music of white people."

"Elvis changed the country music scene quite a bit; he almost put country music out of business."

"You can't make a hit record out of nothing. … It's baseless to think you can make any recording a hit, just by playin…"

"Now my attitude is very simple: I must do what artistically pleases me."

"... And this is the origin of pop music: it's a professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts mus…"